The development at 307 - 341 Ormeau Road, Belfast converted a disused Bakery building into a five storey apartment building. 156 Apartments are located over a ground floor of 17,000sq ft of retail space fronting the Ormeau Road. Architects Robinson Patterson designed the building behind the retained facade of the existing Bakery for developer Big Picture Developments Ltd. Following approval in 2005 construction by Graham Construction began with completion in July 2009. The development saw multiple legal proceedings against purchasers by the developer when they failed to find mortages for 2007 prices in 2009 when the property market collapsed. 

History of the Bakery
The Ormeau Bakery opened by Robert Wilson in 1890, thrived on the site for 90 years, under three generations of the Wilson family until Andrew Mills acquired it in 1980. During this time the exterior of the building has changed little, except that in the 1930’s the ground floor fronting the Ormeau Road contained a row of shops.

Bakery Facts
In 1907 it was the first bakery to make soda bread.
In 1927 it introduced the first automatic breadmaking plant in Ireland.
In 1929 it produced the first wrapped bread in Ireland.
It was the first bakery in the country to use electric vans, buying an initial batch of 50 in 1935.
In 1953 it became the first bakery to wrap soda bread and potato farls
In 1971 it introduced the first bagged bread in Northern Ireland.
In 1983 it began national distribution for Marks & Spencer in more than 260 UK stores.
Credit: BusinessEye.co.uk

Bakery Closure and Redevelopment
In January 2004 British Bakeries announced that it would close the Ormeau Bakery in Belfast and transfer production to its Mother's Pride site on the Apollo Road. Production at the Ormeau Road site stopped in the spring of 2004 after more than 100 years.

(How the Bakery appeared in November 2005)

Big Picture Developments acquired the site for redevelopment soon after the closure and planning applications where lodged in summer 2005. Building work began in late 2005 and was completed in July 2009. The project involved the demolition of the majority of the existing structure behind the façade to create a new central courtyard and to rebuild the inner structure to meet the needs of a modern apartment development. There was also a new two storey structure constructed on top of the original building and a ground floor car park and retail units. The redeveloped bakery building and an adjoining new-build apartment building provide 156 apartments in total.

Apartment sales
In 2007 phase one of the Bakery apartments generated over £35m in a few hours. Over 100 apartments were sold with prices ranging from £250,000 for a one-bedroom apartment to £350,000 for a two-bed apartment. The period saw a huge boom in apartment sales in Belfast which ultimately collapsed by the time the Bakery completed in 2009. Buyers were faced with the prospect of fulfilling agreed prices at a time when the market value of their property was up to 30% less than the agreed 2007 value. This was due to the contracts being signed without being 'subject to mortgage' so banks then decided not to finance the deals when the economic situation deteriorated. Court proceeding were initiated against 20 purchasers at the development in 2009, including property developer Michael Taggart whose business Taggart Holdings went bust in 2008.

Court Proceedings
The Ormeau Bakery development created a legal precedent for Belfast's uncompleted apartment deals. The lead test case taken against buyers who failed to finalise on contracts committing them to purchase flats at the Bakery granted a High Court order for ‘specific performance by consent’ against purchasers. The decision on January 11th 2010 by Mr Justice Deeny
  

Project Management: Johnston Houston Consulting
Building Services Consultants: Caldwell Consulting